THE REPRESENTATIONS OF TYPE OF DISABILITY, ETHNICITY AND AGE AND HOW THESE ARE ASSOCIATED WITH PARTICIPATION IN TEXTBOOKS

Abstract

Introduction Textbooks matter for an inclusive education. I examined the way in which 30 textbooks in history, religion, civics, and biology represent disability-related issues. Aim: The overall aim is to find out if textbooks represent the type of disability in association with age, ethnicity, and participation. Specifically, this research addresses the question: Are textbooks’ representations of the type of disability, age, and ethnicity associated with participation? By participation I refer to whether textbooks represent people with disabilities as (a) engaged in daily activities located outside of institutionalized residence. Engagement in activities may be indicated by sports, being a wage earner, voting, protesting, spending time with family or friends or (b) only being at their institutionalized residence/flat. Methods: I examined three hypotheses regarding representations of type of disability, ethnicity, and age and how these are associated with participation. I analysed the data using a combination of qualitative coding of the content as well as qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). Results: Although most textbooks do mention disability, people with a disability remain largely invisible, and less than half of the textbooks represent people with disabilities as active participants. Conclusions: First, I demonstrate that physical disability is associated with active participation. Second, I demonstrate that disability is associated with ethnic majority. Third, I demonstrate that the participation of people with disabilities is associated with both young and old age groups.

Keywords

• disability
• textbooks
• participation
• diversity